


Cheers to Thirty

by niffizzle



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Birthday, F/M, Fluff, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Post-Hogwarts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:34:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26542270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/niffizzle/pseuds/niffizzle
Summary: Everyone was busy the night of Hermione’s thirtieth birthday. Everyone, except Draco Malfoy.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 66
Kudos: 639





	Cheers to Thirty

**Author's Note:**

> A short dose of birthday fluff in honor of Hermione Granger's birthday. 
> 
> Thank you to mcal for pre-reading. This piece is un-betaed, so all errors are my own.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Harry got called away for an Auror mission.

Ron and George were asked to speak at a conference for young entrepreneurs.

Ginny had a Harpies match.

Neville was at Hogwarts, Luna was Luna, and her parents…

Long story short, no one was available to celebrate Hermione’s birthday. 

“So what are you doing tonight?” Parvati asked while they walked down a Ministry corridor towards the cafeteria for lunch.

Hermione withheld a sigh. She had been asked the same question by at least a dozen co-workers. They meant well. After all, how could Hermione Granger _not_ have birthday plans? The _Daily Prophet_ even had an article in the society section speculating what the war heroine would do for such a milestone birthday. But apparently, the answer was “eat a slice of cake provided by her department’s social committee and go home to an empty flat.”

“Not much,” she vaguely answered, the same as she had every other time someone had posed the question. “But Harry’s throwing a small party for me Saturday night if you can come.”

So her birthday celebration was delayed this year. No big deal. It wasn’t as though Hermione would complain about getting to pretend she was twenty-nine for a few more days.

By the end of the workday, she had been wished a happy birthday by so many people—including witches and wizards she didn’t even recognise—that Hermione had no qualms about going home without anything more. Even as a child, she had never been the type to make a spectacle out of her birthday. A quiet night in with wine and takeaway from her favourite restaurant would be plenty sufficient.

She had almost finished her final piece of paperwork for the day when a knock on her office door interrupted her thoughts. After calling for the person to enter, she set down her quill the moment she caught sight of his blond hair.

“Can I help you with something, Malfoy?”

He welcomed himself into her office and stopped just a few paces from the door. “Only came to wish you a happy birthday.”

Hermione cracked a small grin. “Thank you.”

Years had passed since the last time any resentment flowed between them. After Malfoy joined the Aurors, he had become a much more constant—and not entirely unwelcome—presence in Hermione’s life. He and Harry had formed a solid camaraderie, and Hermione would even venture to say she and Malfoy were edging on friendship themselves. Though, that word still felt a tad generous. True friendship required more than conversing with each other whenever they were at the same event or get-together, even if she did admit to enjoying their prolonged one-on-one chats more than her younger self could have ever imagined.

He stepped further into her office, arms folded against his Auror uniform. “So what are you doing tonight?”

Hermione leaned back in her chair, finally releasing the long sigh she’d managed to hold in all day. “Nothing,” she said, the first honest answer she’d given to that question. “Everyone’s busy, which is fine. Saturday will be fun.”

Malfoy raised an eyebrow. “I don’t remember you asking if I was busy.”

She blinked, slightly frazzled. She had never considered asking him.

“Lucky you, I happen to be free,” Malfoy continued, traces of a smirk starting to inch up his lips. “So how about it? We get you a proper birthday dinner? Say, seven o’clock?”

They had never spent time together just the two of them. The idea felt foreign. Yet, it did sound better than her current plan.

“I’d like that,” she said, already starting to feel the bubble of excitement form in her chest.

Malfoy nodded. “Good. Then I’ll stop by your place, and we can Apparate together wherever you want to go.”

“Oh, that’s not necessary. I’m perfectly fine with—”

Malfoy lifted a hand to stop her. “It’s your birthday, Granger. Let me do something nice for you.” 

She didn’t protest after that.

~*~*~

Seven struck, and the crack of Malfoy arriving outside her flat happened precisely on time. Hermione opened the door for him, and her cheeks instantly warmed.

“I didn’t think to change,” she said, eyeing Malfoy head to toe in an expertly-tailored Muggle suit. Her blouse and pencil skirt combo from work was far too casual in comparison. “Give me five minutes, then we can go.”

She turned to head to her bedroom, but a sudden clasp around her hand froze her movements.

“No need.” His vision tracked the length of her form before a smile appeared. “You look lovely as is.”

The warmth of his words thawed her. He had never complimented her before. At least, not so sincerely, and most certainly not about her appearances. It was a nice birthday surprise.

“Thank you, Malfoy.”

“Draco,” he corrected, his smile stretching wider. “You’re thirty now. It’s time you start calling me by my given name.”

Hermione lifted an eyebrow. “Oh? So does that mean you’ll start calling me by mine?”

His resulting chuckle rang through her entry. “Not yet. I have nine more months of Granger privileges until it’s my turn to accept full adulthood.”

Malfoy— _Draco_ offered his raised elbow, and Hermione balanced her arm on top of his. A second later, they were gone with a pop.

~*~*~

Dinner was a delightful affair. Draco landed them at the Apparition point closest to her favourite Muggle restaurant—the one she had named when he had asked before leaving her office where he should make a reservation. Throughout the meal, he was an overly perfect gentleman. He pulled the chair out for her, ordered an absurdly expensive bottle of wine, and insisted they get every dessert on the menu when Hermione couldn’t decide. Truly, she didn’t need any of those things. But every time she made a comment, Draco shooed it away.

_“It’s your birthday.”_

As if that explained everything. Even when her friends were available to celebrate, they never did anything close to this. Then again, her friends weren’t as grossly wealthy as Draco Malfoy. This was merely his norm.

When dinner concluded, they strolled through the Muggle streets, taking the long way back to the Apparition point. Their conversation had yet to lull. The latest Wizengamot rulings, this month’s articles in _Transfiguration Today_ , her work, his work, and everything in between. It was impossible to tell when one topic ended and the other began. 

“Here, take this,” Draco said as they rounded a corner and a third shiver in five minutes travelled down Hermione’s body. 

He slipped off his Muggle suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders. She didn’t try to protest. It was humorously large on her petite frame, but she was grateful nonetheless. 

Even when they reached the Apparition point, their conversation didn’t stop. Now that she had spent the night with him, the idea of returning to her empty flat was far less appealing. Maybe she and Draco really _were_ friends. 

And yet, something about that thought still didn’t sit completely right.

They continued to chat into the night, but as much as Hermione wanted to stay, her yawns became harder to ignore.

“I really ought to head home,” Hermione eventually said. “But thank you for tonight, Draco. You really know how to make a witch’s birthday special.”

She began to take off his jacket, but his words stopped her.

“Two more minutes,” he said, slipping a hand into his trouser pockets. A trace of nervousness flashed across his face before he continued, “You can’t leave without your present.”

Her lips parted, not sure what to say as her eyes fell on the small, elegantly wrapped box. 

“You shouldn’t have,” she said before accepting the gift and starting to undo the bow. “Tonight was already ample.”

A half-smile broke across his features. “But I wanted to.”

Underneath the wrapping was a black velvet box. Her heart started to pick up speed as she ran her thumb over the name of the Goblin-owned jewellery store. It came to a seizing halt when she saw what was inside.

The necklace chain was delicate, no doubt the product of fine craftwork, with a gold bar attached across the bottom. In the left corner were three stones: amethyst, diamond, and finally, sapphire. 

She peered up at Draco, eyes wide and glossy. 

“How?" she choked.

“I asked Potter first, but he didn’t know, so we opened the old files regarding your parents’ case. Their birth dates were listed in their profiles.”

Her fingertips trembled as they grazed over the three birthstones. Her mum, her dad, and her.

“I hope it’s not too much,” she heard Draco say, hesitation evident in his voice. “But you’ve mentioned what you did to your parents’ memories, and I thought you’d like a small reminder of them.”

She couldn’t take her eyes off the necklace. “It’s perfect.”

“Can I—” He cleared his throat. “Can I help you put it on?”

Hermione nodded, and Draco took the necklace out of the box and into his grasp.

The next several moments passed in a heady blur. Draco stepped behind her, the presence of his broader build immediately palpable. He gathered her hair and swept it over one shoulder, allowing his breaths to ghost against her bare neck. The pounding in her chest resumed, reaching a new precipice when the heat of his touch brushed against her skin and he clasped the necklace around its new home.

Her fingers instinctively reached to touch the three stones, now rested just above her heart. Nothing would ever replace her parents, but this was the closest she had gotten to spending her birthday with them in over ten years.

Words failed to fully capture how much the gift meant to her. This wasn’t the sort of thing Draco could have purchased last minute. He had even worked with Harry to get her parents’ birthdays. All anyone else had given her was a new book, quills, or some equally predictable item for the friend they continued to deem the perpetual nerd. But Draco had gone beyond that.

When he stepped back in front of her, her eyes frantically searched his face. For years, he had been her childhood bully. Her enemy on the battlefield. But when she looked at him now, she saw none of that. His grey eyes sparkled with the glimmer of hope. It made her heart stir. _He_ made her heart stir. 

Suddenly, all those countless moments they’d spent talking with each other, lost in conversation while their friends surrounded them, made so much more sense.

Hermione pushed up on her toes and placed a kiss against his lips. Everything else around them seemed to melt away. She lost herself in the warmth of their connection, savouring the way Draco wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in closer. Never had she considered kissing him before, but now it felt like the most natural, most logical thing in the world. 

When he pulled away, Hermione let her eyelids linger closed for a few more seconds before opening them to peer into his gaze. The sparkle in his eyes was brighter now, and Hermione couldn’t fight the creeping heat from blooming across her cheeks.

She tried to find the proper thing to say. “That was…”

“Nice?”

A soft laugh blew past her still tingling lips. “Nice.”

She shrugged off Draco’s jacket and returned it to him. When he was done putting it back on, he picked up her hand and brushed a gentle kiss against her knuckles.

“Happy birthday, Hermione.”

Her heart seized as he took a step away, allowing her space to Apparate home first. But she still didn’t leave.

Biting down on her lower lip, Hermione smiled at him one last time. “Do you want to get dinner again before the party on Saturday?”

Draco smiled right back. “I’d like that.”

Long after Hermione landed in her flat and tried to go to bed, her heart remained aflutter. The next decade of her life was off to a _very_ good start.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are much appreciated and bring all the joy 💙
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr ([niffizzle](https://niffizzle.tumblr.com/)) for future story updates and to see what else I'm working on :)


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